Thursday, December 15, 2005

3 yards and a cloud of dust

Gas Drilling Raises Dust Clouds in the WestOnly the dust, which hangs in the air like ground fog among the trees and rolling hills, gets in the way of the scenic view."We don't dare leave a window open in the daytime," Cooper said....While oil and gas development creates other problems — housing shortages, noise, water pollution and increased crime — dust is just about universal in the booming methane fields of Wyoming and other states rich in natural gas."Anywhere there's a producing oil and gas well, it's an issue," said Gwen Lachelt, director of the Durango, Colo.-based Oil and Gas Accountability Project, reeling off problem areas in parts of Alabama, Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, Montana, New Mexico, West Virginia, Wyoming and Canada.

Booming though the fields may be, to me the pernicious dust is a metaphor for the frantic increase in drilling that is necessary as the large natural gas fields have been played out.

Clearly, that path will be followed to its logical conclusion; we need a parallel path of progress in the meantime.

Drilling more holes in the ground at this point will keep the lights on, but it isn't progress.